The meeting, which was held to discuss a range of agricultural issues including better regulation and simplification, follows an earlier meeting with EU Commissioner Marianne Fischer Boel in May.

Speaking after the meeting, the Minister said: "This was a great opportunity for me to make our local case on a range of agricultural issues.

"Since coming into office on 8 May I have worked day and night to cut the amount of red tape faced by local farmers, this has included agreeing with my Executive colleague Arlene Foster to set up a bureaucracy review group. This group will report back to us before the end of 2007. I look forward to the review's findings.

"This meeting has been extremely useful and is another step in strengthening our relationship with the EU."